On September 25, the Tripoli Security Directorate announced the end of fighting in the Libyan capital Tripoli (Libya Observer, Sept 26, 2018). This declaration comes after almost a month of fierce clashes that left around 117 people dead and 560 others wounded (Libya Observer, Sept... MORE

The sudden rise of Islamic State’s Khurasan Chapter (IS-K, or Waliyat-e-Khurasan) in September 2014 took the security policymakers of Pakistan and Afghanistan by surprise. The global Islamist terrorist organization was able to find immediate support from local and regional Islamist terrorist groups operating in the... MORE

The jihadist group Anṣar al-Muslimin fi Bilad al-Sudan (Ansaru) broke away from Boko Haram in a formal announcement through fliers dropped in Kano, Nigeria in January 2012 (Vanguard, February 1, 2012). However, Ansaru’s founder, the long-time Nigerian al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) kidnapper, Khalid... MORE

On May 15, the U.S. Treasury Department put the Iraqi banker, businessman, and politician Aras Habib on the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists for his role in assisting and providing financial support and other services to Iran Republican Guard Corps’s Al-Quds Force (IRGC-QF). He... MORE

One of the most controversial preachers in contemporary Islam is Dr. Wagdi Abd al-Hamid Muhammad Ghoneim, a leading member of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (MB). Now an occasionally troublesome resident of Turkey, Ghoneim has been arrested eight times in Egypt and turfed out of numerous nations... MORE

Abou Obeida Youssef al-Annabi, born on February 7, 1969, is the nom de guerre of Yazid Mebrak (Interpol, Feb 29, 2016). Al-Annabi is originally from Annaba, in the northeastern corner of Algeria near the border with Tunisia. Annaba is Algeria's main port for mineral exports... MORE

Following the demise of the Islamic State (IS) territorially, authorities across Europe are grappling with serious questions regarding the return of foreign IS fighters. Countries have followed a variety of paths in dealing with returnees.  These include judicial proceedings and jail time for those arrested,... MORE

In August, the al-Assad government reportedly began to deploy a significant number of former armed opposition fighters, approximately 2,000, from southwest Syria against Islamic State (IS) affiliates in the southwest Syrian governorates of Dara’a and Suwayda (Syria Net, August 26; Enab Baladi [Dara’a], August 17;... MORE

The man who has the strongest Russian support in Syria might not be President Bashar al-Assad but rather one his most trusted commanders. During his visit to the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria last December, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with senior Russian... MORE

News of the death of Mullah Fazalullah, the most wanted man in Pakistan and Emir of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan brought a sigh of relief to many in Pakistan (The Hindu, June 15). Up until his death, the notorious... MORE